hello i have been a member for a while but i haven't posted anything till tonight. i usually just read all of the informative posts and dream.

my 1985 sc needs the clutch replaced and i was wondering if there was an easier way to do it than dropping the entire engine and cradle.
i also have the opportunity to buy an 85' GT for $500 but it needs the engine replaced. would that be a good idea?

i have just lowered it before to replace mine. just remove the two rear cradle bolts and lower it enuff to get the trans out. if you do a search on here, i know there are some detailed articles on it. i lower the cradle and remove the drivers side suspension and slide the trans right on out.

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Keith
Topsail Beach,NC
86&87 Fiero GT
86&96 Corvette
04 Harley Davidson Softail
73 Lotus Europa Twin Cam
86 Lotus Turbo Esprit

"He who dies with the most toys wins!!!"

There are many that say drop the cradle.
I have had the transmission out of mine twice and just tipped the cradle back as above...
After doing it a couple times I could probably swap the clutch in 3 hours now since everything is clean and not rusty.
The biggest thing is if the rear bolt come out easily. But you would have to deal with that doing it either way.

thanks for the help. do you know of a thread where there are pictures. i looked but couldn't find one.

the procedure in the chiltons where you hang the motor and drop the tranny and cradle is fairly easy also. as bad as it sounds, lining it back up is pretty easy. I would modify it to drop the struts with the control arms, and just remove the calipers. no re alignment needed. I used that method the first time I did my 86, took about 6 hours total, and I was not rushing. that included removing the flywheel for a resurface. most of the extra time was spent getting familiar with the car and it's layout, and making the 2 pieces to hold the motor up. I'd do it the same way next time. in a nutshell:
1 raise car up as high as possible in back with ramps.
2. support car in front of front mounts with 4x4 and stands.
3. drop exhaust.
4. attach supports to top of engine
5. remove clutch slave
6. remove shift cables
7. remove brake calipers and hang out of way, also e brake cable.
8. remove the 3 top strut bolts.
9. remove bell housing bolts.
10. remove engine mounts to cradle nuts, and in your case the strut on the front.
11. remove the cradle bolts, supporting the cradle with a floor jack.

I think that was all of it.
then seperate the tranny, you will need to tilt the block some with the supports, leave it at the angle it came apart so it will go back easier.
soudns bad, but it really isnt. you are not dropping the full weight of the cradle, just the frame and the tranny.

the easiest way is to have someone else do it.

Like tjm4fun says, I replaced mine in an 85 coupe several years back.

I "hung" the motor in place, followed pretty much what tjm4fun listed, and dropped the cradle. At that point easy enough to pull the tranny and do the fix. It's also easy to pull the motor flywheel (I refaced mine while I was at it), and put everything back together.

This way saves draining coolant and disconnecting hoses. Doesn't seem like much, but can really be a pain.

If I were you while the tranny's out, I'd check the clutch fork and shaft, shaft bearings, etc. While you've got it out, that's the time to do it complete, cause it's a pain.

Good luck.

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Marc in sunny Titusville, FL

84 SE son's car, loaded
85 Coup w/V6 transplant
85 GT newly on the road
86 SE/GT conversion just bought - big plans!

Here is the method I basically use the works well.
I make two log bolts to screw into the top two bell housing holes to help align the transmission and hang on while taking it in and out.
http://www.thefierofactory.com/qaeasyremoval.php

thanks i appreciate all the help. i'll have too try and see if i can get that to work. when i get time to do it.

Here are some picts of a fiero that is getting a new fork put in.







Good luck!

thanks

I have a question, i am a mechanic and have replaced hundreds of cv axles at least and several front sub frames and dropped engines and trans out the bottom of many front wheel drived cars, and i have never had to remove the struts to do this. I simply remove the lower ball joint and swing the stut and hub assembly out to remove the cv axle from the hub then pull it from the trans. since i pull the ball joint there is no need to adjust the alignment at all, since adjustment is made a the strut to knucle atatchment. but i have read on here more then once people saying to pull the strut with the sub frame so that they don't have to realign the car. why could you not simply do the same as with the front drives and just remove the axle from the hub and leave the strut and knuckle in the car? i see from the pics above that you can remove the arms from the knuckle will this allow the strut to swing out enough to remvoe the axle? i can remember that i have done 2 clutches on 4 cyl fieros and i know that we did not remove the sub or the struts or realign the cars afterward. in fact we never removed the trans completely from the car but thats another story all together. if anyone has any input on this i would really like to know thank you

Ant

Ant:

That's the way I've done mine, remove the lower ball joint to knuckle mount and drop the cradle.

I know a lot of guys loosen the strut tower bolts and drop the struts with the cradle.

The way I see it, leaving the struts with the cradle assembly requires a little more finesse moving the struts to get the whole subassembly in and out. On the other hand, with all that stuff out of the way (struts included) it really opens up the engine bay and wheel wells.

However, since we'd be working on the tranny and engine out of the car, what does that get you?!

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Marc in sunny Titusville, FL

84 SE son's car, loaded
85 Coup w/V6 transplant
85 GT newly on the road
86 SE/GT conversion just bought - big plans!

Easiest way is to just sign the cc slip :P then let someone else do all the work. hehehehe

http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/086871.html

If I had a hoist I would always drop the cradle unless I had already recently. That way the tranny would be easier to stick and I could have inspected the motor and found all of those broken exhaust manifold bolts I have on the front side. If you can't drop the cradle this works. Start pb blasting everything now.

I just did mine by supporting the engine w/ a 4x4 and some chain bridging the strut towers, removing all the suspension, cradle and transmission. This allowed me to not disconnect any hoses and stuff. Next time (God forbid!!!......but it will happen!!) I'll just buy/rent an engine lift and drop the whole mess including engine on the floor. Having the whole mess on the floor would be better than sitting under the jacked up car trying to work around the hanging engine. Every time I heard a jack stand creak I would get very nervous!!
Good luck, Ray.